Hello everyone and welcome to my first ever fic on this site. this is my first time writing out a serious story so I'm sorry if characters appear OOC at times but I'll do my best to keep them in character. The updates will probably be slow about 1-2 weeks a Chapter depending on the time I can find, I also apologize if some things are misspelled as I have to beta it myself. so without further Ado enjoy The Emperor's Regnant.

Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal: The Emperor's Regnant

(Opening Song - Hatsune Miku - Blooming the Idol)

Chapter 1: I'm gonna bring it to 'em!

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP! I heard the loud shrill of my alarm clock as I'm torn out of my sleep with a jump, causing me to fall out of my bed and onto the floor.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch" I murmur to myself as I get up and fixed my bed. I look up at the entrance to the attic where Yuma Tsukumo slept while I took the bed of his real room hear my adoptive younger brother still asleep. I smirk a little and grab my first year heartland middle school uniform to go take a shower.

About 15 minutes later I get out of the shower and put on my Uniform and look into the mirror I have light teal eyes. I grab the hair dryer and begin to style my black and purple hair to my preferred style. (Think a hybrid of Neku from twewy and Roxas/Ventus from kingdom hearts) with a few of the purple bangs handing over my left eye. I walked out of the bathroom and into the kitchen to grab some breakfast and saw Akari and Haru were already up.

"Morning", I say as a greeting, as I entered the kitchen.

Akari gives me a small wave before going back to her conversation with her news editor.

"Good morning Ventus". Haru says with a small smile and goes to put some food of my plate. "Make sure to eat it all".

I gave a nervous chuckle at that, Haru was serious about breakfast and could become very mean if you tried to skip it. Still she was a very kind soul despite that small quirk. Two years ago I had woken up in the streets with no memory to who I was. She had kindly taken me in and I could never repay her for that. I doubt that Ventus was even my real name, I just took it 'cause it meant wind in Latin and it felt appropriate to my situation, plus that name had felt familiar to me.

-Zexal-

After I had eaten, I went back into my room and grabbed my Dueling Deck that was with me when I woke up in this life as I call it, and put it into my book bag along with my duel disk and d-gazer. I looked up at Yuma's room to hear him still sleeping, I looked at my watch to see if he didn't wake up soon he would be late, but that wasn't my problem. I wasn't his alarm clock. I checked one last time to see if I had everything and Walked out of the house giving Akari and Haru a small hug goodbye before heading off to school for the day.

I had gotten a few feet from the house when I head a yell from behind.

"Oi Ven"! Yuma yelled angrily at me, "Why didn't you wake me up?" "We're going to be late!"

"No you're going to be late" I say with a smirk, "Besides I'm not your alarm clock."

Yuma sticks his tongue out at me and proceeds to duck and weave through all the litter bots cleaning the trash on the road.

"Yuma, Ven." A voice calls out to us.

I look at the source of the voice to see Takda Tetsuo skate up to us on his motor skateboard. I give him a small smile, "Morning Tetsuo". I've known him for a short while now, he's a bit on the heavy side but has a big heart.

"Morning Ven." Tetsuo says in response before turning to Yuma. "You ready for our daily challenge?" He asks Yuma.

"Don't think you can win against me easily." Yuma says with a grin as he swallows his rice ball and takes off running.

"Idiots." I murmur under my breath but let a small smile grace my face.

A bit later I catch up to see Yuma surrounded by Litterbots with his deck scattered on the floor, yelling at them that his deck is not trash. I let out a laugh when they start calling him talentless. I walked up to Yuma and helped him pick up his deck and handed it to him. "Here you go Toma." I say with a teasing smile.

"It's YUMA!" Yuma yells in response.

I ruffle his hair and give him a grin. "I know but to me you're Toma."

-Zexal-

Yuma and I arrived at our first class just in the nick of time.

"Whew, made it!" Yuma gasped out breathing hard.

I gave him a grin. "It's your fault for oversleeping." I tell him as I take my usual seat.

Yuma sticks his tongue out at me and I grab it with my thumb and forefinger

"Mephm Mi Mo!" Yuma Mumbles Inaudibly

I can hear perfectly well that he is telling me to let go but I decide to have some fun. "Sorry What?" I ask putting on a confused face.

Yuma Points at his tongue and yells inaudible.

"Good Morning Yuma, Ven." I hear a soft voice say.

I look over to see Kotori Mizuki. I let Yuma's tongue go and wiped the little saliva on my shirt.

"G-Good Morning Kotori Chan." I say stuttering a bit. I internally Curse my nervousness around her. I always felt like I would get lost in her Hazel eyes.

"Morning Ven." Kotori says with as she sits down. "Did you get your homework done?" She asks giving me a small smile.

I swear if this had been an anime, I would be bleeding out the nose right now. "Y-Yeah got it all done." I say with a small stutter, feeling my cheeks heat up.

"That's great" she says as Ukyo Sensei walks in to begin the class.

-Zexal—

Soon the time for gym class came and I was on the floor with my gym cloths on. Everyone was gathered around the 20 tall stack of blocks to watch Yuma's daily bring it to 'em challenge as he called it.

"There's no way you can jump 20 hurdles!" Tetsuo taunts at Yuma.

"I'll fly right over them!" Yuma says with a grin as he runs at the blocks and jumps yelling out. "I'm gonna Bring it to Em!"

I cover my mouth and snort as Yuma predictably crashes into the blocks knocking them all down.

Kotori goes up to Yuma and asking him, if he's okay.

"I brought it to em." Yuma says in a daze making most of us laugh.

I looked at the stack of blocks in thought. "Put 'em up again, I'll give it a shot." I tell them.

"Ehh, you're going to try it Ven?" Kotori asks me in surprise, because I would usually sit in the corner and due my own thing.

"Yup, today just feels different" I tell her with a small smile.

As the blocks get set up again I give a few short stretches, and crack my neck a bit. "Here I go." I say as I take off running at the blocks yelling out "Geronimo." I was up to the 10 Block before I starting going towards it about to crash into them.

I let my instincts take over and put my foot against the block stack and pushed off giving me a small boost to go even higher. Once I reached the peak I threw my hands down onto the top of the stack hurdling myself over, and let myself do a few midair summer saults before landing perfectly.

"Whoa, Ven that was AWSOME!" Yuma practically yells in my ear, causing me to flinch a little. "How did you do that?"

"A magician never reveals his secrets" I tell Yuma with a cheeky grin.

"Hey come join us." Yuma says as he pulls me towards the others.

"Alright" I say with a smile letting myself open up more to the world a bit more.

-Zexal-

I was sitting at the bottom of the school swimming pool in a slight meditative state when I heard someone dive in. I looked up to see Yuma swimming as fast as he could to the other side.

"I'm gonna bring it to 'em." Yuma begins to yell out under the water, but the action causes him to inhale a bunch of water.

"Idiot." I mentally Say as I push up from the floor and help Yuma to the surface and out of the water.

"Geeze you're such an Idiot." I hear Kotori say to Yuma as she helps me pull him out of the pool.

"Tell me about it." I say shaking my head in annoyance.

"You're Getting better Ven." Kotori says with a small smile. "You were down there for five minutes."

"Thanks Koto." I say giving her a small smile and calling her by the nick name I gave her.

"Your welcome Ven." she says with a small smile as she offers her hand to me to help me out.

"Thanks Kotori." I say with a smile, taking her hand so she can pull me out.

As she goes to pull me up. I give her a small grin and pull her into the water causing her to yell out in shock.

"Oi Ven, what was that for?" she asks me with a pout.

"Fun" I say with a small chuckle, "plus you're cute when you pout." I tell her causing a small blush on her face to appear.

I helped Kotori out of the water and handed her my towel. "Here you go I tell her." In an apologetic tone.

"Thanks Ven." She says as she takes it and dries off her hair.

"See you in the hall." I tell her as I take back the towel and go into the locker room to change.

-Zexal—

Yuma, Kotori and I were sitting in our next class, with our Duel disks on the table with their computer screen activated.

"Geeze Yuma, you really are an idiot." Kotori tells Yuma in a scorning tone.

"It's a challenge." Yuma tells her as he grips the Emperors key around his neck and explains to her that as long as he never gives up, he can accomplish anything.

"That's a memento right?" Kotori asks him

"Yeah." I say entering their conversation. "It was from his mother and father during one of their travels around the world."

"Yeah." Yuma says in response to both of us. "This key's gonna open the door to countless possibilities!" He says holding up the key.

"Does it really have that sort of ability?" Kotori asks Yuma with a slight look of awe.

"Nope." Yuma tells her bluntly causing her to anime drop onto the deck.

I chuckle at the scene. "That's not necessarily true Yuma." I say with a small grin. "After all, all of us are keys to the door of countless possibilities."

"Your right Ven." Kotori says with a smile.

"Even if this key doesn't open possibilities I always feel I can bring it to 'em as long as I have this key with me." Yuma tells the two of us, before jumping up and yelling out "I'm gonna bring it to 'em" loudly in the class making me hit my head on the deck and groan.

-Zexal—

I grinned in excitement as I ran out to head to the center court. If there was one thing Yuma and I had in common it was our love of dueling. I looked out to see a whole bunch of students already dueling. I grabbed my D-gazer from my pocket and activated it, it was a custom d-gazer the lens was black and the frame was a greyish silver. I put it on to see a monster destroy the school tower and come right at us. Yuma and Kotori duck slightly screaming. I just brush some AR dust off my shoulder from the monster.

I looked up at the field, being able to see all the Monsters on the field now and smiled. I grabbed Kotori's hand and pulled her along into the field to find an opponent to duel, leaving Yuma to his own designs.

I had managed to defeat several duelists in no time at all. "This Level of play is boring." I internally complain as Kotori walks up to me.

"Good job Ven, you're on a roll." She tells me.

"Thanks Kotori." I say deactivating my duel disk. It was a different make then normal it had a round screen and a deck slot that seemed to just barely hold the deck and the card zones were made of energy. (The xyz dimension duel disk from arc V) it was beside me and a deck box when I had woken up two years ago.

A short time later we met back up with Yuma. "How goes the victory streak." I ask with a taunting tone.

"I may have countless losses" Yuma replies as if it's nothing, "but if I keep Bringing it to 'em ill win for sure."

"Stubborn Toma." I murmur under my breath.

"Hey Yuma, Ven isn't that Tetsuo?" She says pointing up at the top of some stairs.

I look closer to see the, ahem pudgy form of our friend. "Yeah it is him." I tell her, "let's go watch his duel."

"Alright." Yuma and Kotori reply as we head up the stairs to get a closer view.

The three of us arrived to see Tetsuo in a pinch. "Hey Yuma Ven, Look at Tetsuo's Opponent". Kotori tells us.

I look over to see the infamous second year bully Kamishiro "Shark" Ryoga. I knew shark wasn't a bad soul just full of a sadness that he took out on others.

"Xyz Summon." Shark Declares. "When two monsters of the same level are on the field at the same time, I can use those monsters as materials to summon An Xyz Monster." Shark explains to Tetsuo

"I overlay the level three skull Kraken and Big Jaws!" Shark states as his monsters turn into lights and spiral up into the sky before crashing down into a red vortex onto the ground. "Xyz Summon! Come to me, Submersible Carrier Aero Shark!"

Two sharks connected together by some sort of armor type thing bursts out of the ground and lets out a cry.

"Xyz Summon?" I hear Kotori ask to no one in particular. Even though she watched my duels I never went into the xyz monsters in my deck to give my opponents a handicap.

"Yeah." Yuma says in reply to her question. "The strongest point of the Xyz summoning is."

"The monsters stick around as the soul of the Xyz monster called overlay units to help it activates its abilities." I say finishing Yuma's sentence.

Yuma gives me a small annoyed look before glancing back at Aero Shark with a smile. "I don't have any Xyz monsters myself, but there really awesome aren't they?" He asks the both of us.

"Yeah they are." I say nodding in agreement.

"Go Aero Shark, Direct attack." Shark yells out, making me remember the duel that was going on. I look over to see Tetsuo go flying into to the ground as his Life Points hit 0. An air horn sounded as the image of shark in the AR screen said Win, and the AR turned off.

"Tetsuo." Yuma says with a worried tone, as he and Kotori take off their D-Gazer's while I just push mine up to rest on my forehead.

I look at Shark as he walks up to the fallen Tetsuo. "As agreed I'll be taking this." Shark tells Tetsuo as he grabs his deck.

I feel anger surge through me as I clench my fist. A deck is a Duelist's soul, you don't take another's.

"What are you doing with Tetsuo's deck?" Yuma asks shark as the three of us go up to see if Tetsuo's alright.

"Who are you?" Shark asks Yuma. "Hey Ventus." He says to me in acknowledgment of my Presence.

I give Shark a nod in return.

"I'm Yuma Tsukumo. I'm this guy's class mate." Yuma replies before realizing what shark said. "Wait you know him Ven?" He asks looking at me.

"Yup." I say popping the P, getting a slight yell of surprise from Yuma, Kotori and Tetsuo.

Two kids walk up behind shark. I called them Spike and Cloud due to the looks on their hair, plus I didn't care to learn their real names.

"You obviously got now clue who it is you're talking to." Cloud states to Yuma.

"Oh I know." Yuma says, "He's the most notorious bully in the school."

I hit Yuma slightly at this, giving him a glare. "Don't call someone a bully."

"What, but it's true." Yuma says in protest.

I give Yuma a glare. Making him shut up about it.

"I'll give you that at least." Shark tells Yuma before holding up Tetsuo's deck. "But this is my legitimate reward."

"What?" Yuma asks in shock as I mentally frown at Shark's words. "Tetsuo what did you do?" I ask mentally, sparing a glance at him.

"In the duel just now, both of us bet our decks." Shark explains to Yuma.

I glared at Tetsuo for that.

"Why would you do that?" Yuma asks Tetsuo.

Tetsuo turns away. "These guys said I'm a poser duelist with no talent and I'd never get anywhere." He explains to Yuma.

"It was bait and you fell for it hook line and sinker." I mentally reply.

Yuma turns to look at shark. "Then I'm just gonna beat this guy in a duel and get your deck back."

"Yuma Don't." I say in a warning tone.

"Stupid!" Cloud says to Yuma. "Shark-san is so skilled that he's already participated in tournaments."

"He's no opponent you can defeat." Spike tells Yuma adding on the Cloud's ahem Brown Nosing.

"I know all that." Yuma says in response to them. "I also aim to be the Duel Champion!"

"Did you just say Duel Champion?" Shark asks Yuma with narrowed eyes. I can tell those words have an effect on him.

"Do you have any clue just how far one must go to be the duel champion?" Shark asks Yuma as he takes a few steps closer to Yuma.

"Well, I don't know." Yuma tells him.

"Then don't talk so casually about it!" Shark yells at Yuma.

I put my hand on Yuma's shoulder pushing him back slightly. "Oi Shark, No need to yell at him."

"Tchh." Shark grumbles under his breath.

"I-I can dream, Can't I?" Yuma stammers out.

"Dream, Huh?" Sharks says. I can see a small smile on his face as if Yuma's words are resonating with something deep within his soul. "If you want me to return this he says holding up the deck, you'll have to offer me whatever's most important to you in its place."

"What's most precious to me?" Yuma asks himself as he looks at the Emperor's Key?

Shark notices Yuma's stare and smirks, before yanking the key from him.

"What?" Yuma yells out as Cloud and Spike go to hold him. "What do you think you're doing?!" He asks Shark.

"Hmph." Shark says as he looks at the key. "This appears to have considerable importance to you."

I felt my fists clench in anger, I wanted to tell Shark to stop it but something deep within me told me that I had to let these events play out.

"Give it back." Yuma begs Reaching out his hand towards the Key.

"Shall I teach you the true meaning of Value?" He asks Yuma holding up the key. I could hear the sarcastic tone in his voice when he said value.

"Only when you lose something precious." Shark begins as he throws the key to the ground. My eyes Widen in shock as I realize what he's about to do. "Shark Don't!" I yell out.

"Do you realize its true worth." Shark yells out as he slams his foot into the key breaking it in two.

When the key breaks I feel a sharp pain go through my head. I bite my tongue to keep from yelling out.

Yuma falls to the ground looking at his key in shock. "How could you?!" He yells at shark.

I feel myself stumble a bit from the pain of the headache that is going away fast, but not fast enough.

"Your precious something has been shattered." Shark tells Yuma, "and now its ancient history" he states as he kicks the tip of the key off the observation deck into bushes below.

"A pity it is." Shark tells Yuma in a mocking tone, "but I can't return the deck to you now."

"That's Dirty Shark." Yuma Yells going to punch him but Tetsuo and I grab him, before he can do anything reckless.

"But I'll offer you a chance." Shark Tells Yuma. "Since you were prattling on about you being the future duel champion, I'll challenge you to a duel." "If you win, Ill return this." He says holding up Tetsuo's deck, "but if I win your deck is mine."

I growl internally at that as Yuma gasps out in shock at the terms.

"This Sunday." Shark tells Yuma. "At the plaza in from of the station. If you want this deck back be there."

-Zexal-

Yuma and I returned home after the school day, but he had fallen into a deep depression.

"Hey don't worry about it Yuma." I say trying to cheer him up.

"Yeah whatever." Yuma says in a hollow tone. "I'm going to bed." He tells me as he climbs the rope later to his room. I look at the clock on the wall to see it's only six. I lay down on the bed. "God Damn it Shark. Why did you have to go and do that?" I ask softly to no one as I look up towards Yuma's room.

During the next school day, everyone was jumping hurdles again but Yuma was sitting in the corner with me. Kotori came up to us.

"Hi Ven." Kotori says in greeting to me, before turning to Yuma. "Hey Yuma, are you gonna try for the 20 hurdle jump again?" She asks him.

Yuma clenches the shattered key in his hand and looks up at Kotori with sadness in his eyes. "Not today thanks" he tells her. I feel shock go through my body at those words.

I can tell Kotori is worried as well, as she says Yuma's name in a worried tone.

A while later I had walked out of the locker room, due to being a bit late to next class and I saw Yuma sitting on the side of the pool.

"Hey Yuma aren't you going to bring it to 'em?" A random kid in the pool asked him.

"Maybe some other time." Yuma says giving a dismissive wave with his hand. I felt annoyance bubble in my body at that.

I Jump in the water near him so my entry splashes water onto him.

I surface next to Kotori. She grins at me before she splashes Yuma herself

"Cheer up Yuma." I tell him. "Yeah don't be so down." Kotori tells him.

"I know." Yuma says "but, it's like I can't work up the strength to now that my keys been broken."

Kotori and I get out of the water and Sit beside Yuma.

"Are you sure it's the key that's broken and not you?" I ask him. I notice Tetsuo watching us out of the corner of my eye before walking away. "Maybe" Yuma says gripping the key shard.

-Zexal—

Yuma Kotori and I were walking home later that evening when we heard Tetsuo yell for Yuma, as he came up to us on his skateboard.

"Tetsuo!" Yuma says in slight shock, I notice that Tetsuo is covered in barely noticeable grass markings. I smiled internally. He really is a kind soul.

"Yuma, are you really planning on going to the duel tomorrow?" Tetsuo asks Him.

"I…I suppose." Yuma replies in an unsure tone.

"Don't Go." Tetsuo tells Yuma.

"Huh, why?" Yuma asks Tetsuo with a slight look of shock.

"You can't handle it." Tetsuo tells Yuma bluntly.

"You don't know that." Yuma says in a challenging tone. I smile as I can see the old Yuma slowly coming back.

"How can you beat shark when you couldn't even beat me?" Tetsuo yells at Yuma, before calming down. "Besides this is my fault, anyway I don't want to create anymore decks." He tells Yuma making my eyes widen slightly in shock.

"Your misunderstanding." Yuma says making Tetsuo look at Yuma. "I'm not going there for you." "Shark broke what's important to me right before my eyes." He says as he grips the Emperor's key pierce around his neck. "I can't just back out!" "My Mother or Father wouldn't back out" he declares, as he snaps out of his depressed funk. "I'm gonna fight him for me!" He tells Tetsuo.

"Good to have him back, right Kotori?" I ask her

"Yeah." She says with a smile.

"Do what you want," Tetsuo says with an annoyed growl. "Guess I'll give you this" he says reaching into his pocket and pulling out the missing key piece and tossing it to Yuma.

"You found it for me?" Yuma asks Tetsuo.

"I just stumbled upon it." Tetsuo says before skating away. I smiled. Tetsuo really is nothing but a big softy.

Later that night, Yuma and I were in his room working on his deck.

"This is the deck that dad Built." "If I can use it properly, I think it'll be pretty strong." Yuma tells himself.

"You're wrong Yuma, it's your deck not your fathers." I tell him gently.

"Your right Ven." Yuma says with a smile. "I'll use my deck tomorrow to defeat Shark for sure."

"That's the spirit." I say with a grin, "Now let's get some sleep you need to be well rested for tomorrow."

"Yeah" Yuma says as he goes to lay down in his hammock. "Night Ven." He says.

"Night, Toma" I say in a teasing tone before dropping down the hole in the floor to my room.

-Zexal-

The next morning I woke up to Yuma running out of the room in his casual outfit. I looked over at the clock to see it was already 9 and the duel was at 10. I quickly got up and put on my casual clothing. It consisted of a blue t-shirt with a white phoenix design on it. A black Denim jacket that was dangling on my shoulders, on my right wrist was a gold and silver checkered wrist band. Brown shorts, and a pair of dark brown/green hiking boots. I grabbed my black head phones from the table and hung them around my neck, and attached my deck box to my waist. I quickly went to the kitchen and got a small piece of toast to eat.

"Ready Yuma?" I ask, as I pull one of my lollipops out of my pocket and put it into my mouth sticking the wrapper back in my pocket.

"Yeah" he says with a nod as we both head out the door.

"We're heading out." Yuma and I tell Haru, who is sweeping the front yard

"Yuma." Haru says causing Yuma to stop short.

"What is it grandma?" Yuma asks.

"Here." Haru says as she tosses Yuma a wrapped up rice ball.

"What is this?" Yuma asks her.

"Duel Fuel." I tell him with a smile.

"Correct." Haru says to me with a smile before turning back to Yuma. "You won't be at your best on an empty stomach" she tells him kindly.

A short time later the two of us arrived at the station plaza to see Shark and his two flunkies there as well as Kotori and Tetsuo

"I'm surprised you actually showed up." Shark says to Yuma in a taunting tone. "But if you had run away with your tail between your legs, you could have at least saved your deck."

"I'd Rather quit being a duelist then run away." Yuma snaps, "Especially from jerks like you."

I look at Yuma to see slight signs of worry on his face. I put my hand on his shoulder. "Just smile and bring it to 'em" I tell him.

"Yeah." Yuma says with a smile. "I'm gonna bring it to 'em." he yells as he throws his duel disk into the sky. "Duel Disk Set!" He yells out as he activates his duel disk. "D-Gazer Set!" Yuma puts on his duel gazer. I put on mine as well as the AR materializes and I go over so stand by Kotori and Tetsuo.

"AR Vision-Link Established!" a computerized voice calls out.

"DUEL!" Yell Shark and Yuma

"Good luck Yuma." Kotori calls out to him.

Shark: 4000 Yuma: 4000

"I'll go first" Yuma declares. "It's my turn Draw." I see Yuma look at his hand before grabbing a card. "I summon Zubaba Knight!" As soon as Yuma puts the card on his duel disk a monster appears from the ground letting out a cry. (Zubaba Knight Level 3 1600 Atk.) "I can't attack since it's the first turn." He tells Shark in an over confident tone. "With this I end my turn."

"Idiot." I mutter under my breath. "You didn't protect your monster and your overconfidence will cost you."

"Humph, so your Card has 1600 Attack points, does it?" Shark asks Yuma in a taunting tone, "and that's your strongest?" "My Turn Draw!" He yells out as he draws his card from the deck. "I summon Big Jaws" Shark declares as a shark like monster appears from a torrent of water. (Big Jaws. Level 3, 1800 Atk)

"It's got 1800 Attack" Yuma yells out in shock at the new monster.

"Zubaba Knight has only 1600 Attack points." Shark tells Yuma, "While Big Jaws has 1800. Holding out a battle while in attack position results in the one with lower Attack Power being destroyed, and according to the rules you take damage equal to the difference."

"You had a monster stronger then Zubaba Knight in your hand?!" Yuma asks Shark in shock activating the AR Communication screen. Causing me to get frustrated again at his over confidence.

"You should have played a small fry that weak in defense mode." Shark tells Yuma. "Then Again," He says grabbing a card from his hand. "Even a assuming you played a monster more powerful, it would have been meaningless." He tells Yuma as he reveals his magic card.

"I activate the Magic Card, Aqua Jet!" Shark tells Yuma as he places the card in the Spell and Trap card Zone. "It Raises the Attack power of a Water-Attribute monster by 1000 Points until the End Phase of my Turn." His big jaws gains to turbine jet like things as its attack power goes up to 2800.

"There it is." I hear Spike yell out. "Sharks Magic Combo" Cloud says

"Battle!" Shark yells out. "Go Big Jaws. Big Mouth." He declares yelling out its attack name.

"Zubaba!" Yuma yells out as his Life Points drop by 1200. (Yuma: 2800)

"I set one card and End my Turn." Shark Tells Yuma as his set card materializes on the field.

"Darn it." Yuma Says. "You only managed to reduce my life by 1200 points!" "My Turn, Draw." He yells out.

"I Summon out Gagaga Magician." Yuma Declares Summoning out his Monster. (Gagaga Magician, 1500 Attack, Level 4) "I'm counting on you Gagaga Magician." He tells the monster.

"What?" Shark asks in confusion. "A Monster with 1500 Attack power in attack mode?" "What a Huge Miscalculation!" He tells Yuma.

"No you're wrong!" Yuma yells back at shark. "From my Hand I Equip Gagaga Magician with the Equip Spell Wonder Wand." "The Monster Equipped with Wonder wand gains 500 attack points." He explains as Gagaga Magician goes up to 2000 Attack power. "If you can power up using spell cards" he tells Shark. "I can power up using equip cards."

"Yes." I hear Kotori and Tetsuo Chant. "This means that its attack power, is greater than big jaws." Kotori calls out.

"Not a bad play." I comment. "He got Gagaga Magicians attack to over big jaws, but he's forgetting Shark's set."

"Go Gagaga Magician." Yuma yells out. "Attack Big Jaws."

"Yuma WAIT!" I yell out at him.

"Ventus is right." Shark Tells Yuma, way to completely disregard my set card. "Trap, Activate!"

"Trap Card?" Yuma yells out in shock.

"Zeus' Breath" says Shark declaring the name of his trap card. "When my opponent's monster attacks, this card negates their attack." He tells Yuma explaining the trap cards effect.

"Oh no, his attack was stopped." Kotori says.

"It gets worse." I tell her.

"What do you mean?" Kotori asks me.

"Shark has a Water Attribute Monster." I tell her.

"Ventus is correct." Shark says having overheard our conversation. "I can inflict 800 Points of Damage for every Water-attribute monster I have on the field." "My Big Jaws is Water Attribute, meaning you will take 800 points of damage." He tells Yuma, as a gust of wind blows Yuma back lowering his life point counter. (Yuma: 2000)

"Darn it." Yuma complains. "Oh that's Right" he says to himself before getting back up and grabbing a Card from his hand. "I set one Trap Card face-Down and end my turn!" He declared.

I literally face palm at that. "Idiot" I say. "You can set Magic or Trap Cards."

"He's Right Yuma." Tetsuo Says. "You shouldn't tell which one."

"Geeze" I hear Kotori Groan out. "Get Your Act Together" she yells at Yuma.

"What a Loser" Shark Says gaining back Yuma's attention. "My Turn Draw." He says Drawing for his turn.

"I summon Skull Kraken" Shark states as an Octopus Skull appears from the ground. (Skull Kraken, Level 3 600 ATK)

"It's got only 600 Attack Points, it's not stronger then Gagaga Magician." Yuma says confidently.

"Be careful Yuma." I tell him, "Low attack points usually mean a strong ability."

"Correct." Shark says in response to my comment. "I activate Skull Kraken's Effect!" He Declares. "When Skull Kraken is Summoned, I can destroy on Magic or Trap card on my opponent's field."

"What?!" Yuma Yells out in shock as his Wonder Wand is destroyed and Gagaga Magician goes back to 1500 Attack Power.

"Now Big Jaws is higher than Gagaga Magician." Shark Tells Yuma.

"Shoot, this is bad." I hear Tetsuo shout out, causing both Kotori and I to look at him with questioning looks. "Now Shark Has gathered two Monsters on the field with the same level." He explains to us. "This is the same as in my Duel."

"The Xyz Summon." I say nodding my head in acknowledgment.

"Yuma Just can't win." Tetsuo Complains.

I hit him slightly at this and glare at him. "Don't give up on Yuma until his life counter hits 0. You never know what could happen."

"Yuma." I hear Kotori say in worry. I put my hand on her shoulder, blushing slightly at the contact. "Don't worry. He'll be fine I tell her with a smile."

"Yeah." She says returning the smile.

"What's wrong?!" Shark asks Yuma in a taunting tone. "You seriously thought you could become Duel Champion with those clumsy skills?!"

I look over at Yuma to see him gripping the key, while his face shows that he is having an internal conflict.

Shark Sees what Yuma is doing. "It's all because you keep clinging to that thing that you can't win a duel." He says taunting Yuma.

"Say that again?!" Yuma says with slight anger in his voice.

"I just thought of something Nice." Shark says with a slight bit of insanity in his voice. "After I steal your deck from you, I'll shatter that key beyond repair right before your eyes."

"Shark." I say under my breath in a worried tone for my rival.

"You Bastard." Yuma Grits out grasping the key tightly.

"Because you're the king of guy who can't do a thing on his own!" Shark tells Yuma while laughing.

"Cut the Crap! I'm not like That." Yuma Snaps at Shark. "No matter how many times I fail." He begins to tell shark. "No matter how many times I'm laugh at." "I've always Brought it to 'em, and that hasn't changed!" "Because I am who I am and I believe in myself!" He yells out. "I haven't even come close to bringin it to you!" He yells out as he rips the key off his neck and it begins to glow brightly.

"What?!" I gasp out as the light covers the field. I shield my eyes from the light. When it dies down I find I'm inside a sphere of blank cards. "What is going on I ask."

"You, you will be the Protector and help the envoy of the Astral World." I hear a voice call out.

"What?" I ask as a pendant appears before me. "This is." I say looking at the pendant, it looked exactly like Yuma's emperors key but it was upside down. And instead of gold with the teal gem on top. It was silver with a red gem. I stare at it for a bit before taking it. "I don't know what's going on." I tell the voice, "but if someone needs my help I'll be there."

"Good Answer." I hear the voice say, detecting a smile in its voice as I snap back to reality.

I snap my eyes open to see Yuma sitting on the ground.

"What, what was that just now?" Yuma Questions to no one. "A Dream?"

I look at Yuma's hand to see the fixed Emperors Key. I look down to see the pendant I received around my neck. "So it wasn't a dream." I say to myself.

"What's going on?" I hear Yuma ask himself before we both hear shark gasp in slight pain.

"What in the?!" Shark says as I see a deep purple aura covering his body. "Power is swelling up inside me" he says as he yells out.

"Come, call to me." I hear a voice call out from within shark. "Numbers."

"What was that?!" I question mentally. Knowing the others couldn't hear it from their faces.

Shark yells out in a primal rage of power. "I overlay my level 3 big jaws and Skull Kraken." Shark yells out as his monsters turn into lights and fly up into the sky. The portal opens, and I gasp in shock as it's a galaxy portal and not a Red one. "I construct the Overlay Network using these two monsters!" He chants out. As the monsters fly into the network making a massive explosion.

"Come, Numbers 17!" Shark declares Leviath Dragon. A sealed form appears that looks like a giant pillar before it unlocks itself to form a giant snake like dragon with six wings. (Numbers 17, Leviath Dragon, Rank 3 2000 Attack)

"Numbers?!" Yuma yells out in shock.

"That's not the monster he called out when fighting me!" Tetsuo states in shock.

"Something in the universe has changed." I say looking at Leviath Dragon.

"What is it?" Kotori asks me. I shake my head. "Later" I tell her.

"I've never even heard of Numbers before." Tetsuo says.

"Makes sense." I tell him, "It's a recently released card archtype." Very recently released I mentally add slightly gripping the pendant I named the Regnant's symbol.

"I activate Leviath Dragon's effect." Shark declares to Yuma. "Once per turn, I can detach its Overlay Units," he tells Yuma as he pulls skull kraken from under his Number Monster, "and raise Leviath Dragon's attack power by 500 points!"

"What?!" Yuma yells out in shock at the effect.

"Go Leviath Dragon!" Shark states at the Number swallow the overlay unit and goes up to 2500 power. "Vice Stream!" He yells out as the number attacks unleashing a beam of energy from its mouth that destroys Gagaga Magician.

"Auugh." Yuma yells out as he is sent flying from the attack and crashes into the ground loosing 1000 life points. (Yuma: 1000)

"Yuma!" Kotori and I yell out in worry.

"This match appears to be over." Shark tells Yuma "It'll be decided in my next strike!"

"Ow!" I hear Yuma groan out. "Damn I guess I really can't."

"Stand!" I hear a voice call out. I look over to see a transparent blue figure with green markings and blue gems all over his body, floating next to Yuma. "How did I miss that?" I question under my breath, "and win." The sprit tells Yuma.

"Who the heck are you?!" Yuma asks the Sprit.

I look at the new comer with a feeling of familiarity as a single word passes through my lips, "Astral."

-Zexal-